Bucs seek to improve red-zone efficiency with new weapons

The Buccaneers should see improvement in the red zone this season with the additions of tight end O.J. Howard and receivers DeSean Jackson and Chris Godwin.

They finished below the league average of 55.6, converting only 51.9 percent of their tries inside the opponents’ 20-yard line into touchdowns. Eleven teams finished above 60 percent, with the Titans leading the league at 72 percent.

The Bucs’ red-zone efficiency slipped from 2015 when they scored touchdowns on 52.9 percent of their trips into the red zone.

“We have good options,” coach Dirk Koetter said, via Jenna Laine of ESPN. “. . . The league took a jump. It used to be that 55 percent touchdowns would put you in the top five in the league. Tennessee led the league at 72 percent. That’s insane — 72 percent touchdowns.

“We’ve actually raised our goal this year to try to be 60 percent touchdowns; that’s something we have to do better.”

The presence of Howard and Jackson should open up the red zone for the Bucs’ biggest weapon, Mike Evans, who scored seven of his 12 touchdowns inside the red zone.